


Roman to the Rescue

by iamavacado



Series: Some Sanders Sides Stories [7]
Category: Sanders Sides, Thomas Sanders
Genre: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders - Freeform, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders - Freeform, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Feelings, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Logic | Logan Sanders - Freeform, Morality | Patton Sanders - Freeform, Sanders Sides (Video Blogging RPF)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-03-27 04:55:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13873587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamavacado/pseuds/iamavacado
Summary: Patton is hiding his true feelings, and Roman starts to take notice.





	Roman to the Rescue

**Author's Note:**

> This was a prompt from an anon on my tumblr, @i-am-avacado.

Roman never seemed to have a solid grasp on other people's emotions most of the time, so that's why when he caught on before anyone else did, he was too surprised to say anything about it at first.

Though Patton was a fairly emotional guy, and had no qualms about showing those emotions, he was actually kind of hard to read. Well, not when he was happy. When he was happy, he definitely showed it. It took all but physical restraints to keep Roman from hugging the life out of him when he started jumping around and telling everyone how important they were to him. He even put a soft spot in Virgil with it all.

But that was when the emotional availability ended. The positive emotions were easily expressed. The negative ones, however...those were harder to spot. Because the man smiled all the time. He cracked jokes all the time. He complimented everyone all the time. Everyone but himself. That was how Roman noticed it. He gave everyone a barrel full of love, but pointedly left himself out of it.

He saw it in Patton's smile. While everyone was chattering, he had had a moment of reprieve from all those performative gestures, and it slipped, for just a moment. The smile fell from his eyes, and suddenly it all seemed fake. Roman tilted his head at Patton, and studied his face in silence. Something struck him as off. He glanced around, but the other three didn't seem to notice.

Roman finally decided to say something, but then Virgil spoke up about something that was bothering him.

"That sure seems like a not so good time Virg, how could I help with that?" prompted Patton, which left Roman without the answer he was looking for, which was if Patton was okay or not. 

***

The day was coming to a close, and Patton's door had been busy once again. People were going into his room day in and day out looking for answers to problems they couldn't solve without some good old unbridled optimism. It was a kind thing for Patton to do, but Roman was worried that it was all starting to weigh on him. As everyone had learned, Patton wasn't happy all the time. Who could be? It wasn't possible.

Roman made his way to Patton's room, around bedtime. As he walked up to the door, Logan walked out, no doubt another problem of his being solved with the help of Patton, who didn't Roman. He went to his room, and Roman just stared ahead a little in his wake. 

The door was cracked just a tad, and Roman quietly peeked in. He could just make out Patton sitting there on the floor, in the middle of the room. He was holding his phone up, taking a picture of a puzzle that he and Logan probably just completed together. That was something Logan came to do when he found that sleep had evaded him. Once Patton took the picture, he stared at it, smiling. Roman smiled too. He loved seeing his friends accomplish small victories. It was a little pleasure he enjoyed.

But as the seconds ticked by, Patton's smile started to fade into a deep set frown, and Roman's along with it. He looked...sad. Like the completion of the puzzle did nothing for him. In a matter of seconds, he had undone the puzzle, slid the peices back in the box, and shoved it under the couch. He started to walk over to his closet when Roman finally decided enough was enough.

"Hello, Patton," he said cautiously as he pushed the door open. Patton whipped around, obviously startled, and plastered a smile back on his face.

"Well, hey there Roman, what can I do for ya? Nightmares keeping ya up again?"

Roman near winced. He'd been coming to Patton about his various nightmares for weeks now. How often had he been plaguing Patton with his own problems? He shook his head. "No, that's not it."

Patton laughed. "Well isn't that a night-miracle!"

Roman forced a laugh back. "Ha, right. Um, Patton, I was wondering--"

"What do you need help with? Good old Logan and I just solved a puzzle. Took us a couple hours, but we _pieced_ it together!"

"Yes, I saw. Well, I wanted to ask a question--"

"Whatever it is, come on right out and say it!"

Roman decided to follow Patton's advice. "Patton, are you doing okay?"

There. He caught it again. The wrinkles in his eyes seemed to slip away, and suddenly it was just a grin. A fake grin. Patton took a second to answer. "Well what do you mean kiddo? I'm doing fine! I'm always doing fine! That's why everyone always comes to me with their issues. It's easier to have someone with a bright perspective to help!"

Roman led Patton to the couch, and gently sat next to him, talking as he went. "Yes, I know, but we've already established that you don't have to be joyful all the time. You have issues too. And, lately, it's been seeming..." he could see out of the corner of his eye that Patton's smile was fading again. "You haven't been feeling very...happy."

"What do you mean Roman?" Patton's voice came out very small.

"Well..." he grappled for the words. "You seem so eager to jump onto others issues that...maybe you've been ignoring your own. Putting off your own issues, distracting yourself from...all the things you're going through. You...ah, I'm not-- good at this."

Patton encouraged him. "You're doing fine."

"What I'm saying is, do you actually feel happy, or are you just...hiding how you really feel?"

Patton's smile had completely disappeared by this point: a rare sight. Regardless, he said, "I feel happy Roman, honest."

Roman faced him. "Do you?"

Patton went quiet. 

"Do you?" Roman's voice was a bit firmer this time.

There was silence for a few moments, and though Roman wanted to persist, he wanted to give Patton time to respond. So he looked away and tried to be polite, though patience was never one of his strong suits.

But after a minute passed, Roman heard a sniffle. And when he looked over at Patton, he was crying.

Roman started to panic. He had never seen this before. "Oh! Oh, my, goodness, I-- I don't... Oh my, I never, I didn't mean to, uh...um...this is..." He awkwardly wrapped an arm around Patton, who fell into him. "There, there...?"

"I don't know why I feel...not happy Roman," said Patton as he cried. 

"Perhaps I should fetch Virgil--"

"No, you're doing good!"

"But this is...that is what I mean. Even when you're crying you...you're encouraging me." He pulled Patton so he was facing Roman. "So, go ahead. Tell me what's bothering you."

Patton wiped an eye, and put on a smile once again, although crooked. "But, I can't be all mopey and depressed if...I want to help all you kiddos. Whatever I feel, I can work through it."

Roman held him by the shoulders. "You don't have to work through it alone. I can help--or, I...I can try to help." He paused, trying to find something solid to give Patton. "I'm creative, I can offer a...solution. Come on, old friend. Tell me what's wrong."

Patton wiped his nose with the sleeve of his cardigan, which Roman found quite gross but he didn't feel like commenting on it, and then spoke. "Well, Roman, I guess...I guess I feel awful lonely."

"Lonely? But, Patton, you have--"

"Friends, Roman, I know. And they're great! But the kind of lonely I feel is, well, it's...a romantic loneliness."

"Romantic? As in, you wish--"

"I want someone who...I don't know. To hug? In a...more than friends kind of way. Someone I can...someone...someone I can..."

"Love?"

Patton was looking at the ground now. He nodded. "Yeah."

Roman hoped what he said next wouldn't come out harsh. "Well, Pat, you know it hasn't been very long since...well...you know. Do you think, maybe you've just been thinking...about what was? Instead of...what is? Did that make...any sense?"

"Well, you're right there. I have been... headin' down memory lane a lot, haha. Those memories...they're so nice. I just keep thinking. Thinking...if it'll ever happen again?"

Roman wrapped his arms around Patton again, but this time it was less awkward. This time it felt right. "Well, sure they can. It may take a while, but I feel like it could happen again. It will. I'm confident it will."

Patton sniffed again. "You think?"

"Well, of course. It may happen again, and again, and again. It'll happen many times, perhaps dozens, before we get it right. But, the main thing is that we can't... _you_ can't...stop...trying. You can't let your present feelings dictate your future. And you most certainly can't hide them from the others, and me. We care about you Patton. We love you."

Patton had slid down and was laying on Roman's shoulder, but he looked up. He'd stopped crying. "You do?"

"Of course we do. And we all would love to help you. We have issues, yes, but, so do you. And they deserve the attention ours get." He paused. "Now, I can't offer a certain solution to what you're feeling right now, but I can offer...comfort, and...a listening ear...and hugs, if you want them. And we can all offer you a place to talk. If you let us know when you feel negatively, then maybe we could help you, instead of you just helping us."

Patton was smiling now, which made Roman smile in turn.

"Thank you Roman," Patton said. He sat up straight. "I guess I should be more open about my feelings."

"And never worry. We are always open to hearing your troubles just as you are open to hearing about ours. We're all friends." He corrected himself. "Family."

"Thanks."

"And Patton?"

"Yeah?"

He couldnt hide the cheeky smirk that was on his face. "I, L, Y."

Patton brought his hands up to his chin. "Awwwwwwwee, Romaannnnnnn!"

They hugged. "He's back!" Roman smiled wide, and so did Patton.

"Can we go to bed now?" asked Patton.

"Thought you'd never ask, I'm ex _hausted."/em >_

_"You do need your beauty sleep."_

_"And you need your rest."_

_"Good night Roman."_

_"Good night Patton."_

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a comment?


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